Nadir to Zenith: The Military Uniform Princess meets Natsuki Subaru
by Rago Dragovian
Summary: During the Royal Selection of Lugnica, a woman in a strange military uniform is found seated upon the throne. Altair emerges to make use of Subaru in her ploy to test Satella's powers to determine whether to recruit Satella for her revenge on the real world. After all, who better to destroy the real world than a Jealous Witch who has destroyed half of her own world?
1. The Military Uniform Princess

Disclaimer: Neither Re:Creators nor Re:Zero are mine.

Summary: During the Royal Selection of Lugnica, Altair emerges to make use of Subaru in her ploy to test Satella's powers to determine whether to recruit Satella for her revenge on the real world. After all, who better to destroy the real world than a Jealous Witch who has destroyed half of her own world?

* * *

After Felt finished her speech, the world around Subaru seemed to warp; for a split second, Subaru thought he was somewhere in Japan and had somehow made it back until it warped back to the Isekai world. Subaru blinked and looked around noticing Julius's, the grey-purplish haired Knight's, eyes on him, but no one seemed to be aware of what occurred. Subaru didn't speak out after having felt the sting of embarrassment from Emilia's words when he had spoken in her defense in front of the council. Subaru looked up and did a double-take upon noticing a woman seated on the throne; she seemed strangely alien to the rest of the decorum although her posture was relaxed and she didn't behave as if she was out of place.

_Is she royalty? _thought Subaru, _She kind of looks like a princess. Are they choosing her successor? But I thought the King died? I didn't really focus on what this was all about._

She was fitted in a dark, European style military outfit; the iris of her eyes were a multi-color of red and blue with dark pupils, and her arms seemed to have bulky, metallic machinery attached to them. A bizarre hat completed her ensemble atop her overflowing white hair. Yet, despite her appearance and what Subaru imagined was a excessive outfit that didn't leave much room for movement, she sat comfortably with her legs folded and her arms on the armrests seemingly enjoying the Selection ceremony. Her eyes inspected the candidates, the Nobles, the Knights, and the old men at the Royal table before dismissing them at a glance. Her unsettling eyes continued to wander and was slowly roaming over towards him. Once her periphery vision detected him, the strange princess in a military uniform made direct eye contact with him. Her bored composure changed as her lips moved upward to form a Cheshire-like grin.

Julius narrowed his eyes at the impudent self-proclaimed "knight" of Emilia and followed what Subaru was staring at. He froze upon spotting the woman that Subaru was gazing towards who was seated comfortably upon the throne which only the next King of Lugnicia chosen from the Royal Selection had the honor of sitting upon.

"You there!" snapped Julius, the rest of the Royal procession fell to hushed whispers as the audience within the hall turned their attention to Julius's outburst. "On the Throne! Who do you think you are?! Do you have a death wish?! Get off of the throne or suffer the penalty of execution for your blasphemous disrespect towards our country! . . . No, even if you were to comply, your death is now guaranteed for your flagrant conduct!"

The majority broke into murmurs as they began noticing the occupant seated on the throne. Gasps and shouts of outrage filled the room. Some of the Nobles began shouting at the knights to arrest or kill the interloper who dared make a mockery of their country. Hoping to assuage the ire of the Nobles, Julius moved closer to the throne of the King but stopped and turned to Subaru.

"I hate ask this, but that woman in the strange garb isn't some associate of yours in order to further mock our Royal Selection, is she?" questioned Julius, staring at Subaru. "I must insist upon a clear answer from you. Any delay or evasiveness shall result in serious repercussions."

Subaru clenched his teeth, his hands turning into fists, and spittle flying from his mouth as he glared at the Knight. "Like hell she is! I've never seen her before in my life!"

"Why did you not alert the rest of us of her trespassing?" said Julius, his eyes narrowing and his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. Suddenly, he turned back and marched up the stairs. "Never mind, I'll just arrest her and the interrogators can get the information from her directly before her sentencing. Perhaps I wrongly impugned on you due to your display just a moment ago."

Subaru folded his arms and glared at Julius, but said nothing. Emilia watched the exchange before her eyes refocused on the panel in front of her. The other potential candidates decided to ignore further commotions to focus on what was important for the upcoming Selection. Julius briskly walked the steps until he was a step below the mysterious woman on the throne.

"Now then, I would hate to stain Lugnicia's esteemed throne with blood," said Julius, as his knees bent and he placed a hand atop the pummel of his sword. "Please step away from the throne and I won't have to use force to make you comply. Come along with all the grace and dignity that you have left."

The multi-colored eyes looked directly at Julius and frowned at him. Julius felt nothing from the stare and couldn't detect impending hostility from the use of his mana.

" . . . You're in my line of sight," said the mysterious intruder. "Unfortunately, Spirit Knight, you're just a side character and your abilities pale in comparison to other more interesting series. I have no need of you."

Suddenly, Julius heard an eerie whizzing noise and then before he realized it, Julius heard the sounds of dozens of swords impaling flesh.

"It can't be!" shouted Ferris stunned by what he saw. The candidates turned their attention back to the Throne.

"JULIUS!" cried Anastasia Hoshin, horrified at what had happened to her Knight.

Gasps, whispers, screams, and shouts of horror overtook the room as one of the honorable knights had been killed in an instant. Everyone, including Subaru, felt terrified as they tried to understand what just happened. Swirling swords had materialized from some mysterious blue light and dozens of the floating swords had stabbed Julius's chest in rapid succession. Julius fell over to the side in a array of blood and gore; he died before his body had hit the floor and a large stream of blood caked the stairs as Julius's impaled body tumbled downwards from the impact of the swords.

"Esteemed audience, allow me to introduce myself," said the intruder, raising herself from the King's throne and bowing before rising back up to gaze across the audience. "My name is Altair, I'm often referred to as Military Uniform Princess in a world different from your own where the roots of creation spring forth to give birth to countless worlds like yours, and I have come here to acquire a powerful ally in my quest to right the wrongs of all worlds."

Altair sat back onto the throne of the King in the same position as before. Her eyes drifted once again toward Subaru. The audience was in a state of muted panic and tensed as the knights began drawing their blades.

"Everyone, calm down!" bellowed Reinhard van Astrea, unsheathing the legendary Dragon Sword Reid which elicited gasps throughout the room. Reinhard stepped toward the King's throne and positioned his blade toward Altair. "As I thought, you're dangerous enough that my sword finds you to be a worthy opponent. I'll avenge Julius here and now, prepare yourself!"

The agitation of the crowd began to wane as the illustrious Sword Saint prepared to kill the interloper who had brutally murdered Julius in front of them all. Reinhard slowly walked up the steps. Subaru tensed as he thought over the numerous outcomes but decided not to interfere unless Emilia was in the line of fire.

Altair materialized her sword on her left hand and held her PPSh-41 submachine gun on her right hand like a violin. "Well then, Sword Saint, if you truly insist upon interfering with my aims here, then you had best strike me down with your strongest blow or you may find yourself in a similar predicament as your late friend, Julius Juukulius."

"Don't you dare utter his name, murderer!" said Reinhard, as he began utilizing the mana both around and within him upon his sword. Blue and white lights began to flash and the area began to tremble as Reinhard lifted his blade up. The audience stared in awe at the Sword Saint in action. He charged at Altair by running up the stairs, jumping into the air, and struck downward to kill Altair. "I, Reinhard van Astrea, hereby sentence you to death!"

A massive explosion of light burst throughout the room enveloping Altair's frame. Reinhard struck at a 45 degree angle upon Altair's body and Altair grinned as she felt the blade slice across her body. Subaru and the others covered their eyes but didn't hear any resounding explosion. As the light subsided, Reinhard had his sword downward with both hands on the pummel. He was standing in front of the throne obscuring people's view of Altair. Reinhard gaped and his eyebrows raised up towards his hairline as he noticed that both Altair and the throne hadn't been damaged by his attack.

"What . . .?"

"Holopsicon Fourteenth Movement: The Vicissitudes of Fortune," said Altair, a smirk on her beautiful features as she stared at Reinhard. The ceiling above them erupted in a massive shockwave that blew it apart and sent it's scattered pieces flying high into the air at an astronomical distance away from the Castle; dust erupted across the prestigious room masking Reinhard's frame and causing a coughing fit among the audience. In that same instance, Reinhard's right shoulder down to his lower left sternum blew apart in a massive slice causing massive quantities of his blood to spray on the floor and then spill downwards like a river as it cascaded down the steps of Lugnica's throne. His body fell into two pieces on the ground as he died instantly from the wounds. "Unfortunately, while your Divine Protections certainly offer a broad array of abilities that make you nigh-invincible in your world, they are a mere speck compared to my Holopsicon which represents the power of _All of Creation _itself."

Once the dust settled, people began screaming in shock and horror as they saw Reinhard's dead body. Some people began running for the exit only for flying swords to magically emerge and block the way. People who tried destroying or pulling the swords only ended-up impaled by more flying swords that magically appeared from the sky or materialized through remaining portions of the ceiling. Subaru moved towards Emilia out of fear, but a sword flew and struck the ground between them. Subaru glared angrily at the Military Uniform Princess sitting on the Lugnica Royal throne. However, Altair's attention was on the bleeding body of Reinhard which seemed to be slowly restoring itself. Subaru blinked and his mouth hung open as he wasn't aware that others had the power to resurrect too.

"Even comparing your Divine Protections against other fantasy stories, Anime protagonists, or Superhero stories . . . you simply don't measure-up to them, Reinhard van Astrea," said Altair, as she placed her sword atop her PPSh-41 submachine gun as if preparing to utilize a tensioned stick upon a delicate violin. "At best, you're merely a side character spoon-fed his blessings from being born the right pedigree and your lack of character flaws make you a gary-stu by the standards of most of the Gods in the world of the Creators. Such a boring person is not fit to make an appealing story to entertain the Gods. Therefore . . . Holopsicon Ninth Movement: Fate Restoration."

Altair strung her submachine gun with her sword as if playing a violin; Reinhard's Divine Protection was erased completely and his usage of Divine Protection of Phoenix ceased to exist. The mana glowing on the body of Reinhard vanished and Reinhard's death became permanent. Some of the crowd in the back desperately tried to flee upon seeing Reinhard fail to resurrect, but Altair's flying swords simply slammed into them and killed them before they could do much of anything.

"It can't be!" shouted one of the old men at the Selection table. "The Sword Saint . . .! The Sword Saint has died!"

Seeing the Sword Saint perish before their very eyes, some of the Knights fell to their knees in admittance of defeat. Many of the Selection candidates backed away out of fear as they gazed at Altair. Subaru shifted uncomfortably and gazed desperately towards Emilia, but Emilia's eyes fixated upon Altair just like the others. Everyone in the room stared at Altair with variations of shock, horror, fear, disbelief, or a mix of all of the above.

"Now that his movements have stopped and his pesky Divine Protection of Phoenix is no longer an issue, I can finally explain the purpose of my visit here," said Altair, her eyes moving to gaze upon Subaru. "Let us speak in front of our adoring audience, O protagonist of the light novel, _Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World_, Natsuki Subaru."


	2. Natsuki Subaru

"Ah, but first," said Altair, her smirk forming into a smile as her hawk-like gaze remained on Subaru. "I need to bring you up to speed."

Everyone tensed as Altair placed her sword atop her submachine gun once more. Altair continued. "Holopsicon Third Movement: Representation Exposition."

Altair strung the submachine gun as if it was a violin with her sword. Blue light enveloped Subaru and Subaru began screaming in agony as memories of his future deaths were forced into his mind. Subaru moved his head back and screamed while holding his head; everyone in the room noticed the mysterious blue light envelop his body as he fell over and began rolling on the floor in pain.

"Subaru!" cried Emilia, running over to him until a sword slammed in front of her and stopped her. Emilia turned to gaze back at Altair, her fear temporarily forgotten as she glared at Altair. "Whatever hold you have on him with your magic, let him go! He has nothing to do with the Royal Selection or our country's politics! There's no point in using him for some ulterior motive!"

"Psh, pathetic," said Priscilla using her fan to hide her giggling as she gazed at Emilia. Emilia briefly glared at her before returning her attention to Altair. "You've made it completely obvious that you're concerned for that pitiful boy's wellbeing and she can use it against you."

"Despite her . . . choice of words, I must concur with Priscilla," said Crusch, "Whatever her motives, if she seeks to take that knight of your-"

" . . . Friend," corrected Emilia quickly. A blush gracing her cheeks. "Not a knight, but a friend."

Crusch's lips twitched. Priscilla continued giggling behind her fan.

"If she means to take your . . . friend hostage or to kill him, I would say that under the circumstances that it is for the best," said Crusch, Emilia glared at her but Crusch stared back nonplussed. "The next leader of Lugnica must do what is best for the country and not allow emotional whims to dictate the outcome. One life sacrificed in favor of the rest of the lives here . . . the answer is obvious."

"I must say that you have a terrible taste in concubines, Lady Emilia," said Priscilla, gazing at the screaming and twitching Subaru on the ground before looking back at Emilia. "I hope that he's actually that good in the sheets because I can't imagine why else you would want such an embarrassing wreck of a man at your side."

Emilia's face went beet red and she tried to speak to clarify that Subaru wasn't her bed warmer but couldn't find the words. Somehow, she suspected that they would think even less of her should she reveal the truth. She returned to glaring at Altair since she couldn't run over to Subaru to help him due to Altair's sword magic. A wave of helplessness wafted through her body. Anastasia remained silent throughout the exchange and wept for her loss while Felt kept her gaze on the backdoor to count the Nobles who had been impaled to death. Felt smirked and felt a rush of joy at counting each one; she felt nothing for Reinhard's death as he had imposed his own will upon her life because she had become convenient for him to use for his political purposes and tried to force her into a Royal farce that she hadn't wanted any part in to begin with. She knew full well that if not for a quirk of fancy, none of these Nobles would have cared about her living or dying on the streets in the slum district.

Subaru stopped rolling, hollering, and seemed to just twitch while laying on the ground. Emilia glared at Altair. "Listen, villain, whatever your motives against me, please just leave Subaru out of-"

"Allow me to correct your misconceptions and perhaps the misconceptions of the rest of your Royal Participants, Emilia-dono," said Altair giving a thin smile as her attention turned to Emilia. Altair laid her head back and gave Emilia a smug, patronizing gaze. "I have not taken my time to come here to goad or threaten any of the Royal Selection participants. In fact, I don't care what you do with your political power or your boring country; however, if you do indeed interfere with what I did come here for, then I will simply kill you and continue on."

"What the hell could you possibly want with Subaru?!" snapped Emilia, her hands balling into fists. "There's no way that you attacked us here without some ulterior motive involving the Royal Selection and because it is Subaru, you must be here to threaten me because he's an associate of mine."

"Not at all, if anything I may do the opposite by hurting you to influence his behavior," replied Altair, Emilia gazed at her as if thunderstruck with her mouth forming an O-shape as she tried to comprehend Altair's motives. With the exception of Felt, the other Royal Candidates eyes widened and they appeared just as bewildered by Altair's response. Altair chuckled at Emilia and the Royal Candidates gobsmacked gazes before continuing. "Allow me to clearly explain, as I am not bound by the Jealous Witch's power or the authorial intent of this world. Subaru is a being from a different world, but bound by the parameters of what the Almighty Creator God of your world decrees because the God of your world is also the God of Subaru's world. I am a being from a different world who has come here, but I am created from a Creator Goddess who is different from your Creator God. By coming to this world, Subaru was fulfilling the destiny that your Creator God bestowed upon him; fate has decreed that he belongs here. However, my intrusion upon this world is a violation of the will of your Creator God and I am not bound to your world's internal logic or conditions. I am violating the intended fate of this world for my own purposes. Has my explanation helped?"

"I . . . I think so," said Emilia frowning at Altair. "So . . . wait. If what you're saying is true, then Subaru is honestly from a different world altogether and this all-powerful God of our world intended for this to happen?"

"That is correct, " said Altair nodding to Emilia. "However, it goes deeper than that, your entire world, lives, and history simply exist as background information to teach Subaru moral lessons as a despair-ridden coming of age story for young adult men lacking in social skills."

Subaru groaned and began rising from the floor. Emilia blinked and tried to comprehend what she had just heard. "What? What do you mean?!"

"Your entire purpose, life, and all of the suffering you've endured exists as entertainment for the Gods of the world where all other worlds originate from." said Altair, her gaze drifting from Emilia, to Subaru, and back to Emilia. "Do you understand, Emilia-dono? All the suffering that you endured, the regrets of your childhood, the poverty and despair from the discrimination of elves, and all the suffering was simply background information added to serve Subaru's story of being a hero by the will of your God. And his reward for all his efforts? Well, the Gods who are entertained by the misery that you've suffered in life expect that you will be Subaru's reward because they care more about his life than they do the suffering of your people."

Emilia's teeth clenched and her hands tightened into fists. Subaru shook his head and rubbed his forehead before lowering his arm and glaring at Altair.

"Shut up!" yelled Subaru, he rudely pointed a finger at Altair with his other arm and prepared to lay it on the invincible being in front of him. "Even if I'm a light novel protagonist in a Isekai story, so what?! It's still my life, the people around me are still real to me, and I'm not all about that existential nihilistic bullcrap! I enjoy my time here and care about the people around me and that's all that matters!"

"I knew that you would say something along those lines, Subaru-dono," said Altair, a satisfied smirk overtaking her features. "Yet, I must ask that you think carefully on what you're saying. You haven't thought deeply upon your sudden arrival here nor has anyone else in this world. The section of your story here was considered one of the most embarrassing moments and its purpose was to supposedly lay your flaws bare for the readers. Likewise, the readers know what you've been suffering throughout the story, but why would anyone read a story like that? What moral teachings can really be gleaned from watching you be tormented?"

"So what?! It's whatever the author says that goes. Even I understand that from reading Isekai stories," said Subaru, glaring at her. "You may have given me memories of future events, but you just killed Reinhard and Julius. Whatever your intentions, I don't care! Get out of our world or I'll-!"

"Ah, we can't be having that," said Altair, placing her sword on her submachine gun and playing it as if a violin. "Holopsicon Ninth Movement: Fate Restoration!"

A pale-blue light overtook Subaru's frame and Subaru tensed his body for pain, but it never arrived. Emilia made to move towards him, but her movements were stopped again by a sword materializing from the sky embedding itself on the ground. He blinked, patted himself, and gazed at his body before scowling at Altair. He rudely pointed at her again.

"Oi! What the hell did you just do to me, you crazy sword bitch?!"

Altair's visage broke into a Cheshire-like grin as she stared at Subaru. "I got rid of your special ability. Now, when you pass away, it'll be final and you won't have to suffer repeated trauma anymore."

Subaru's hand dropped to his side as he stared at her in stunned silence. His eyes bulged as he gaped at Altair trying to fathom what happened. "What? Wait . . . what?! I . . . You, you aren't joking, are you? You really did get rid of it. Somehow, I just know . . . I can feel the difference. But . . . But I . . ."

"Do you want it back after suffering its effects for so long?" questioned Altair, Subaru flinched and looked at the ground. Tears began falling down his cheeks and he quickly stared back up at Altair with a determined look. Subaru looked ready to lash out, but Altair interrupted him. "Rem is alive and well with everyone having memories of her at this moment. Do you really want to trade away that just to remake your mistakes for the same outcomes?"

" . . . SHUT UP!" cried Subaru as he glared at Altair with contempt. His hands balling into fists, his tears falling down his cheeks, and a sore pain increasing in his chest from her words. "With the way things are now, Julius and Reinhard will be gone forever! I won't let you manipulate me into-!"

"Am I really manipulating you or am I freeing you from manipulation? With your author having written your background as a shut-in Hikikomori and your story being one of repeated suffering until finding the supposedly correct answers to your problems by asking others for help in ways that serve their interests, can you truly say that I am being an obstacle?" said Altair, Subaru and her eyes met. "Natsuki Subaru-dono, can you even say the suffering and repeated failures that you've endured is meaningful? The author of your story always has you make the stupidest kinds of behavior, this part in the Royal Selection being a prime example, and you suffer miserably because of it. Your existence is meant to be subversion to the extreme; unlike stories like Gantz and Berserk, where extreme suffering leads to companionship or the indomitable will to never give up with efforts paying off for the main characters to reach new heights of power, you will always remain fragile because of what your author requires for your story. Do you understand why that is?"

Subaru's teeth clenched, his body trembled, and he shook his head. "I . . . I always wanted to know why . . . I didn't understand. I still don't. Why am I here? I thought it would be similar to the manga and anime that I had read and watched like you say, but it wasn't. Why did that . . . woman" Subaru wanted to be careful in case the Jealous Witch killed Emilia again due to his words. "bring me here. Why is she fixated on me? Where could I have met her before? None of it made any sense."

"There is no deeper meaning. Your story is more akin to Happy Sugar Life and Texhnolyze in terms of themes. If stories where the hero surmounts obstacles by learning moral lessons was really enough to inspire the Gods, then the cruelest stories of bloodbaths, tortures, and other depraved events wouldn't be held the most highly by the Gods. What really inspires them to read and watch your suffering, and the suffering of those others, is simply morbid fascination. The more bizarre, disgusting, and horrific the story, then the more popular it'll be. Often, it has some quaint pabulum about some form of heroism or achieving dreams before going back to another cycle of suffering so the readers and viewers can amuse themselves by watching fictional characters at their most pathetic; as a way of seeing themselves in the fictional story."

"So . . . my life is just being a mindless puppet to fulfill the sick fantasies of others who want to witness gore porn," muttered Subaru, his shoulders drooping and he looked down to stare at his hands. "I still have this burning desire to get that power back and reset this outcome so I can redo everything exactly as I remember it. But that isn't me choosing, is it? It's the author of my story making me decide to take the stupidest route so I can be a pathetic and miserable piece of crap for people to laugh at."

"Oh, it gets even worse. Although you and many of your fans may find your character and world to be rich and in-depth, many older anime fans have found striking parallels between the world of your light novel, Re:Zero, and the fantasy world of the anime titled, Kyou Kara Maou." said Altair, grinning at Subaru. "In particular, the plot twist involving the character of Ken Murata seems to have too many coincidental similarities to possibilities involving where or how you could have met the Jealous Witch from 400 years prior should any connection between you and the Sage Flugel be conclusively proven. The Jealous Witch's story of being sealed away seems to be strikingly similar to Shinou and Soushu being sealed away in Kyou Kara Maou."

"I get your point, but I don't really care about that," snapped Subaru, glaring at her. "And honestly, I can't stand the sight of you or bear listening to any more of this. All you've done is make my journey longer and relive some of my past regrets."

"Oh, you don't care to try for another outcome? I had hoped that you would be willing to continue to chat, because I had hoped that you could be convinced to join me to force the world of Gods to change their ways so you could gain the happy ending that you wanted. I should have known better; after all, you are and will always be, Natsuki Subaru," said Altair shrugging her shoulders. Despite Subaru's rejection, she seemed pleased. "Very well, I'll get to the point of my visit. Truthfully, your willingness was a non-factor but I held some sympathy due to the horrors that you experienced and I had hoped to convince you to join me to make this process smoother."

Subaru and the Royal Selection candidates tensed at her words. Emilia summoned Puck and she scowled as she glanced at Subaru before gazing toward Altair. "What is this secret ability that Subaru has? From what I understand, you gave him memories of the future of this 'story' that we're all part of. Care to explain why that is?"

"I had hoped to convince him of joining me. I bestowed him the memories of future events in hopes of gaining his trust and to make it easier to convince him. Unfortunately, due to the conditions imposed upon him in this world, giving him those memories caused him a significant amount of pain." said Altair, after her eyes flicked over to Emilia. "As for the secret ability, he did attempt to tell you before and after the events here, but he was prevented from being able to because of the authorial intent of the Creator God of your world. One such event in which he forced the truth out caused your death as a direct result. But, I shall tell you what it is that I took away from Subaru-dono."

Emilia took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself. The other candidates had become curious too. Subaru stood still due to indecision. Without his ability, he'd have to tread even more carefully.

"Very early on in Subaru's entrance into your world, without his knowledge or consent, the Jealous Witch Satella forced him to have the ability to Return By Death. Every time that Subaru dies, he essentially resets to a prior event with full memories of what happened. He's seen you, Rem, Ram, and many others die countless times; he has suffered and agonized watching you all die repeatedly. He worked with any new information that he attained each time to repeatedly save your lives in each new cycle." said Altair, a smile on her visage. Emilia's eyes bulged and her jaw looked ready to hit the floor at what she was just told. "He has suffered and died in endless loops for your sake, it's why the witch's scent grows stronger from his body. Anytime that he tried to tell you the truth, the Jealous Witch's power would threaten his life or it would outright kill you should he tell you. Now that I've taken the ability away, he cannot redo events to save people's lives anymore. All that's left . . ."


	3. Emilia or Satella?

Emilia placed her arms on her shoulders and backed away. A wild look was in her eyes. " . . . No, that . . . you have to be lying! There's no possible way that's true! Subaru . . . Subaru . . . How much pain have I been causing him?! I can understand stress, but death? He keeps being killed . . . I don't . . ."

"She's telling the truth, Lia," said Puck, his voice soft and lacking the usual chipper tone. "Think about it. In our 'first' meeting, he knew my name and told me to protect you from the assassin's attack at the tavern. He must have been dying and coming back even as far back as then."

Emilia's eyes widened and she turned to look at Subaru with a look of fear and horror. Subaru flinched as he noticed the wild look in her eyes as he turned to face her. The other Candidates perked up to listen to the juicy information that they could use to exploit Emilia's camp to gain the upper hand in the Selection process and perhaps eliminate one of their rivals early on.

"Emilia-tan, I . . ."

"I never asked you to do that!" snarled Emilia at Subaru. She bit her lip and tears began pouring down her face. Subaru flinched again as his eyes met the wild look of Emilia's eyes. "I thought . . . I thought I had finally made a friend! I thought I had found someone who could treat me like a decent person because I was a half-elf . . . but instead, I . . . I've been causing you far worse pain than anyone else in my life! I . . . I . . ."

"Emilia, I-!"

"Shut up, Subaru! I . . . We can't ever see each other again. It's clear to me now that you don't understand what's best for your life and wellbeing. Of course there'd be something mentally defective with the only person who would treat me well." cried Emilia, as tears continued to streak down her cheeks. Subaru felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. Subaru just stared at her helplessly as she continued to cry. "I can't . . . I can't live knowing that someone being near me causes them to suffer and die repeatedly for my sake. You're being endlessly tortured and I . . . I must vow to stop it. I can't allow you to keep living like that. I knew there was something deeper to your troubles, but that?! I won't let you do this to yourself. I'm a danger to you, so I will make sure that we permanently cut ties so you can live a peaceful life."

"But Emilia, I love y-!"

"No, Subaru! Shut up, Subaru!" cried Emilia, glaring at him. Subaru felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. "I see now . . . you're not in love with me, Subaru. You never have been. You're just addicted to me. Whatever the first meeting between us was, I'm not that person because I don't have her experience or memories with you. You love your Emilia, but the changes in each loop and the diverging experiences means that I'm not your Emilia."

"Emilia . . . please, please don't do this!" cried Subaru, as tears streaked down his cheeks too. His voice creaking with desperation. "This whole time I've . . . I . . . really do love-"

"When you change the past, the person you once knew just becomes a figment of your imagination." replied Emilia, gazing back at him with a determined look. "That's all that you love, Natsuki Subaru."

Subaru felt as if Emilia had driven a stake through his heart. He fell to his knees while continuing to weep.

"Holopsicon Ninth Movement: Fate Restoration," said Altair as she struck her sword on her submachine gun as if it were a violin. Subaru rose to his feet, turned to face her, and tensed for pain. However, nothing followed after she used her ability. Altair pulled her sword back as if finishing two musical notes on a violin. "Holopsicon Third Movement: Representation Exposition. And now we wait in a moment of repose before the finale."

Subaru's shoulder shook as he glared hatefully at Altair. "Oi! What the hell did you do now?!"

"I removed the seal on Satella and then overwrote her story to make it easier for her to come here in person," said Altair smiling in satisfaction at the look of fear and horror throughout the room. Many of the Nobles proceeded to try to flee faster, but were immediately skewered by swords. "It may take some time for her to arrive, so before that . . . I'd like to discuss something of note with you, Natsuki Subaru."

Subaru glared at her, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. _There's no way I can do anything and without Return by Death, I'm even more useless now than before. I'll have to relearn the techniques that I learned in the future too, so that my current body adjusts to those techniques. What a fucking pain . . . _

"The 'love' that you had for Emilia bordered on obsession, the scene we're within now - if not for my interference - would have shown that from your behavior in order to further develop your character. Yet, despite genuine love from Rem, gratitude for all she's done for you, and the length of time that passed between you and the first meeting with Emilia when you first stepped into this world, this plot point remained the driving force of the story and never changed." said Altair, she vanished the sword and submachine gun in her hands. Altair tilted her head to Subaru's left and propped her right temple on a fist from her right arm which lay on the armrest of the throne. "Tell me, Natsuki Subaru, have you given any thought to how pitifully small of a plot hook that is? You constantly reflect back on it throughout your story and spoke of it during your argument with Emilia after you had embarrassed yourself here in the original story. Some speculate that it is simply the authorial intent of your Creator God, but perhaps there is something within your world that can better explain your behavior?"

" . . . My love for Emilia is not fak-!"

"The first time you came to this fantasy world; what did that half-elf woman that you fell in love with that day call herself?" asked Altair, her eyes meeting Subaru's own and holding his gaze. "Who was the person that you promised to do everything for as you died bleeding from your wounds?"

"Emilia-tan, of cour-!"

"Natsuki Subaru," said Altair in a firm tone and putting an end to Subaru's tirade mid-sentence. She shot him a patronizing look. "What did that woman whom you met say that her name was?"

"Shut up! I already understand where you're going with this and there's simply no way that it is true!" snapped Subaru, glaring at Altair. Altair's smirk returned. "You're just trying to confuse me after creating a wedge between Emilia and I! After all, Puck would -"

"Puck's limiter from breaking a promise would seal away his memories prior to meeting Emilia and it is conveniently 400 years worth of memories." replied Altair, her smirk growing into a grin. "Furthermore, if you want to argue that the others were still the same, the second witch trial that you undertook in the future brought up the possibility of parallel worlds. Now, it is possible that it is a red-herring from a narrative perspective, but the immediate dismissal of those being alternate world events is somewhat suspicious. What if the person that you met and fell in love with on that day really was Satella? What if your love for Emilia was all based on a lie or misunderstanding? Why, after all, do they look exactly the same beyond just being half-elves?"

"You . . . you're just trying to trick me!" cried Subaru, glaring at her. Spittle flying from his mouth due to his anger. "There's no way that can be true! I . . . I love Emilia-tan!"

"Think about it; what else would make for the perfect finale to an isekai subversion story and complete the suffering that your God has imposed upon you for the entertainment of his audience?" asked Altair. Altair moved her free hand and pointed up at the sky. "Look up."

Subaru looked up at the sky and felt his jaw drop as his eyes tried to comprehend what he was seeing. Others screamed in horror at the impending nightmare flying towards them. A giant black ball was flying downward with thousands of hands moving out of it. The black hands looked ready to slam onto the ground at any moment. Puck seemed to focus all his attention at the black hands and then transformed just as they came down.

The black hands and black ball slammed into the room killing the majority of the occupants instantaneously upon contact. A haze of blood obscured Subaru's view as copious amounts of blood coated both the walls and the floors. The dark ball separate itself into many more hands and Subaru could make out the figure who looked like a copy of Emilia from the dark red haze. Subaru looked around him and grit his teeth as he noticed that most of the Royal Candidates, the Nobles, the Knights, and all the Council members were dead. Subaru looked closer to him and sighed in relief upon noticing that Puck had protected Emilia from the blast. Emilia was knocked unconscious, but she seemed to be otherwise unharmed.

_He must have timed turning into his giant form to protect her, _thought Subaru, relying on the future memories that Altair had given him. _He can handle somewhere below a thousand hands and Satella didn't slam the area with all her hands at any specific point in the room._

Swords began whizzing and spinning to clear the bloody haze that had covered the area. Subaru grimaced noticing all the dead bodies in various states of mutilation from the impact of Satella's arrival. Altair remained seated on the King's throne with spinning swords acting as a quasi-shield from the massive impact of Satella's entrance into the room. The strange magic shield made from swords having removed the bloody haze that Satella had created.

Altair materialized her sword and PPSh-41 submachine gun once again and placed the sword atop the submachine gun as if playing a violin. "Now then, let us end this grand finale with a character I had defeated in another world before coming here. I made a copy of her for just this moment. I wish to determine which of you two would violate the acceptance rate of the world of Gods in order to pick the better candidate from between the both of you. I felt she would be the perfect opponent in order to determine which of you would suffice in rectifying the problem with the world of Gods. Whomever loses will be my choice and then I'll be on my way."

Several of Satella's black hands slammed into Altair's shield, but they merely evaporated from existence upon contact. Satella did a double-take as if in disbelief and glared at her.

"Why the surprise? I am far more powerful than even you, Satella-dono," said Altair, as she moved the sword atop her submachine gun again like she was playing a violin. "Holopsicon Twentieth Movement: Factor Mimic."

A beautiful red-haired girl with strange ears and a nasty look on her face materialized from the pale-blue light between Altair and Satella. She only had an undershirt and underpants on. Subaru's mouth formed an O-shape and he felt fear overtake him.

_Oi, Oi . . . that's, oh fuck . . . _Subaru stood in muted shock as his thoughts raced. The red-haired girl seemed to make a slight movement and one of Satella's black hands clashed with something invisible. _Oh fuck . . . I have to grab Emilia and get the hell out of here now! Both of us, and even Puck, are likely to be killed by accident as things stand!_

"They both have split personalities, both have bizarre hands to destroy vast swathes of areas around them, both have a blood-soaked history, and of course, both have a Yandere mentality when it comes to the main protagonists of their respective stories." said Altair, her visage breaking into a full-blown smile. "Satella has many supposedly coincidental similarities to her. That's why I decided that Lucy from Elfin Lied would be the most appropriate for the final curtains of this beautiful story."


End file.
